Evolution of grain-boundary ensembles in nickel during boundary migration induced by copper diffusion

The effect of copper diffusion-induced grain-boundary migration on the structure and grain-boundary ensemble in nickel is studied to show that during migration, individual regions of random grain boundaries acquire misorientations corresponding to special boundaries of the Σ3 type. This leads to the formation in nickel of a grain-boundary ensemble with a content of special grain boundaries exceeding 70%.     

Silver grain boundary diffusion in Pd

Two to ten nanometer thick polycrystalline Pd films were prepared on the (1 1 1) surface of Ag single crystal and investigations of the Ag diffusion along Pd grain boundaries were carried out using the Hwang-Balluffi method. The samples were monitored by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) during isothermal heat treatments in the 438-563 K temperature range. Using plausible simplifying assumptions, the activation energy of the product of the grain boundary (GB) diffusion coefficient and k′ (k′ = c_s/c_gb; c_s and c_gb are the surface and GB concentration, respectively) was calculated (0.99 ± 0.08 eV) from the evaluated saturation coefficients of the surface accumulation. This energy, for weak temperature dependence of k′, is approximately equal to the activation energy of the GB diffusion.     

Grain boundary interdiffusion in the case of concentration-dependent grain boundary diffusion coefficient

The grain boundary diffusion in a binary system which exhibits a grain boundary phase transition is considered in the framework of Fisher's model. The kinetic law of the growth of the grain boundary phase and the distribution of the diffusant near the grain boundary are calculated. The method of determining of the concentration dependence of the grain boundary diffusion coefficient from the experimentally measured penetration profiles of the diffusant along the grain boundaries is suggested. The experimental results on Zn diffusion in Fe(Si) bicrystals, Ni diffusion in Cu bicrystals and grain boundary grooving in Al in the presence of liquid In are discussed in light of the suggested model.     

Strain induced grain boundary premelting in bulk copper bicrystals

In bulk bicrystals strain induced grain boundary premelting (SIGBPM) occurs when heavy screw dislocation pileup can be held up to a certain high temperature, approximately 0.6T _M, where T _M is the melting point of bulk material in Kelvin. SIGBPM occurs at grain boundaries to which new twist component is added due to the rotation of both component crystals toward opposite direction about the axis perpendicular to the grain boundary plane. At the original grain boundary, grain boundary sliding takes place due to this relative rotation. In f.c.c. metals with relatively low stacking fault energies such as copper, nickel, brass(30Zn) and silver, dislocations dissociate into partials. Therefore high density tangled dislocations introduced during plastic deformation hardly loose. If these dislocations can be held to high temperatures, SIGBPM is promoted. Formation of static or dynamic recrystallized grains suppresses SIGBPM itself and the propagation of grain boundary cracks formed by SIGBPM.     

Effect of grain boundary on electrical properties of polycrystalline lanthanum nickel oxide thin films

In the present work, lanthanum nickel oxide (LNO) thin films were prepared by the sol-gel method. Microstructures of the films were tailored by changing sol concentration so as to investigate the effect of grain boundary on the transport properties of electrons in the polycrystalline LNO films. Based on the temperature dependence of the resistivity and the magnetic field dependence of the magnetoresistance (MR) at various temperatures, the factors that dominate the transport behavior in the polycrystalline LNO films were explored in terms of weak localization and strong localization. The results show that the grain boundary has a significant influence on the transport behavior of the electrons in LNO films at a low-temperature region, which can be captured by a variable-range hopping (VRH) model. The increase of metal–insulator (M–I) transition temperature is ascribed to Anderson localization in grain boundary. At a high-temperature region, electron–electron scattering and electron–phonon scattering predominates in the films. In this case, the existence of more grain boundary shows a minor effect on the transport behavior of the electrons but elevates the residual resistivity of the films.     

Volume and grain boundary diffusion of implanted 113Sn in aluminium

Volume and grain boundary diffusion of ¹¹³Sn in aluminium was investigated with the radiotracer method. The implantation technique was used for tracer deposition to avoid problems of tracer hold-up caused by the oxide layer always present on aluminium. The diffusion penetration was chosen large enough to permit serial sectioning of samples with the aid of a microtome.The temperature dependence of the volume diffusivity was determined as D(T)=4.54×10^–5×exp[–(114.5±1.2)kJmol^–1/RT] m ² s ^–1. This confirms previous measurements from our group which already showed that Sn is the fastest foreign metal diffusor so far investigated in aluminium.Grain boundary diffusion of ¹¹³Sn in Al polycrystals was measured in the type-B kinetic regime. The grain boundary diffusion product P=sD _gb (s=segregation factor, =grain boundary width, D _gb=grain boundary diffusivity) was found to be strongly affected by the impurity content of aluminium. For Al polycrystals of 99.9992% nominal purity we obtained P _5N(T)=1.08×10^–8exp [–(96.9±7.5) kJ mol^–1/RT] m³ s^–1 and for less pure Al polycrystals of 99.99% nominal purity P _4N(T)=3.0×10^–10 exp [–(90.1±4.2) kJ mol^–1/RT] m³ s^–1 was determined. The grain boundary diffusion product in the purer material is more than one order of magnitude higher than in the less pure material. Very likely this is an effect of co-segregation of non-diffusant impurities into the grain boundaries.     

The stability of triple junctions during the grain boundary diffusion process

The grain boundary diffusion in a system with triple junctions is considered in such a geometry, in which the flows of diffusing atoms meet at the triple line. The solutions of the diffusion equation is given in the frameworks of Fisher's model and under the assumption of quasi-stationary distribution of the diffusing atoms along the grain boundaries. The change of the mechanical equilibrium at the triple junction due to the increase of the concentration of solute atoms is considered. It is shown that under some circumstances the triple junction looses its stability with respect to migration in the direction to the diffusion source. The stability diagrams in the segregation-diffusivity parameter space are plotted.     

High-temperature creep of nickel under conditions of grain-boundary diffusion of impurities from the surface

Comparative investigations of the effect of diffusion streams of copper atoms (a weakly segregating impurity) and silver atoms (a strongly segregating impurity) from the surface in the high-temperature plastic deformation of nickel have been carried out. It has been established that in the high-temperature plastic deformation of nickel, when there are diffusion streams of copper and silver from the surface, there is a reduction in the creep resistance of nickel due to an increase in the contribution of grain-boundary slip to the overall deformation. Two stages, characterized by different values of the rate sensitivity factor m, are observed on the curve of the stress against the rate of deformation over a certain temperature range for each impurity. In the region of deformation rates of sec⁻¹, m≊0.2, and for sec⁻¹, m becomes less than 0.05. Institute of Physics of the Strength and Study of Materials. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 7, pp. 119–125, July, 1997.     

Asymmetric tilt grain boundary structure and energy in copper and aluminium

Atomistic simulations were employed to investigate the structure and energy of asymmetric tilt grain boundaries in Cu and Al. In this work, we examine the Σ5 and Σ13 systems with a boundary plane rotated about the ? 100 ? misorientation axis, and the Σ9 and Σ11 systems rotated about the ? 110 ? misorientation axis. Asymmetric tilt grain boundary energies are calculated as a function of inclination angle and compared with an energy relationship based on faceting into the two symmetric tilt grain boundaries in each system. We find that asymmetric tilt boundaries with low index normals do not necessarily have lower energies than boundaries with similar inclination angles, contrary to previous studies. Further analysis of grain boundary structures provides insight into the asymmetric tilt grain boundary energy. The Σ5 and Σ13 systems in the ? 100 ? system agree with the aforementioned energy relationship; structures confirm that these asymmetric boundaries facet into the symmetric tilt boundaries. The Σ9 and Σ11 systems in the ? 110 ? system deviate from the idealized energy relationship. As the boundary inclination angle increases towards the Σ9 (221) and Σ11 (332) symmetric tilt boundaries, the minimum energy asymmetric boundary structures contain low index {111} and {110} planes bounding the interface region.     

The influence of tensile stress on grain and cell boundary precipitation in supersaturated Al-Zn alloys during creep

The results are presented of the optical microscopic and X-ray diffraction study of the stress-induced nucleation and growth of (Zn) precipitates at grain and cell boundaries (GB's and CB's) during uniaxial creep at 200 °C of supersaturated AlZn20 and AlZn30 alloys. The rate of precipitation is increased mainly owing to the modifying effect of tensile stress on diffusion processes in alloy samples during their anneal. The diffusion of Zn atoms toward GB's and CB's from adjacent regions of grains is accompanied during creep by diffusive flux of Zn along boundaries parallel or nearly parallel to the tensile creep axis toward boundaries with near to normal orientation to that axis. Enhanced precipitation of results then preferentially at the latter and is supressed at the former boundaries where even the dissolution of preexisting has been found during a later application of tensile stress. The stress-induced precipitation of at GB's gradually ceases with prolonged creep exposures due to the lengthening of duffusion paths of Zn atoms from grain interior to GB's.Dissolution of lamellae by their regress toward GB's and CB's is assisted with the stress-induced diffusion of Zn along epitaxial / lamellar interfaces. Copious precipitation of at the parts of GB's and/or CB's with near to normal orientation to the creep axis is then observed on account of Zn from dissolved lamellae. Creep strain also leads to the fragmentation of lamellae and thus also to breaking down of the paths for diffusion of Zn along / interfaces. Spheroidization of fragmented parts of lamellae is then observed. Spheroids of remain embedded within the former lamellar regions.Large creep strains and high strain rates observed on fine-grained alloy samples may be associated with an enhanced viscous GB sliding due to the stress-dependent flow of Zn along GB's and/or CB's.     

Surface exchange reactions and fast grain boundary diffusion in polycrystalline materials: Application of a spherical grain model

Laplace transforms of the solution functions to the diffusion equations for surface exchange reactions and fast grain boundary diffusion in polycrystalline materials of finite thickness have been derived by applying a spherical grain model. Diffusion profiles have been calculated for semi-infinite diffusion systems as well as thin films by application of numerical Laplace inversion. The surface exchange reaction at the surface of the sample (e.g. oxide ceramics) in contact with the constant diffusion source (e.g. gas phase) is assumed to be fairly slow such that the diffusion source is not in equilibrium with the surface during the diffusion anneal. Two limiting cases for the surface conditions are taken into account, viz. fast surface diffusion and a uniform ratio of the surface exchange coefficient/diffusion coefficient. The calculated profiles refer to Harrison's type-A diffusion kinetics. Apart from expressions for the effective diffusion coefficient, analogous relations for the effective surface exchange coefficient are proposed. Relaxation curves for the total amount of diffusant exchanged with the diffusion source are discussed in terms of the diameter of the spherical grains (average grain size), surface exchange coefficient, bulk and grain boundary diffusion coefficient, respectively.     

Variation of apparent creep activation energy in plastic deformation of molybdenum in diffusion contact with nickel

The variation of the apparent creep activation energy as a function of the state of grain boundaries is investigated in the deformation of molybdenum in the presence of diffusion fluxes of nickel at the grain boundaries. It is shown that this energy varies in the same way as in the plastic deformation of classical superplastic materials.Physics Institute of Strength and Materials Science, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 110–113, May, 1993.     

The effect of Sn segregation at grain boundary on the steady-state creep of Cu-10 wt % Sn alloy

The effect of Sn solutes segregating into grain boundaries on the steady-state creep characteristics was studied for wires of a Cu-10 wt % Sn alloy having various grain diameters,d. The creep tests were performed for samples in the-phase in the temperature range: (0·5–0·58 T_m). The steady state creep rate, _s, was found to vary linearly withd. The variation in the stress sensitivity parameter,m, was found to be much less appreciable for large grains (>50m). Activation energy calculation showed that two competitive mechanisms are operating for creep deformation, namely, dislocation climb and viscous motion of matrix dislocations due to dragging of Sn atmosphere. A value of 6·74 kJ/mol was obtained for the binding energy between a Sn atom and the dislocation, while the binding energy between a vacancy and the Sn atom was found to be 33·71 kJ/mol.     

Influence of grain sizes on the ionic conductivity and the chemical diffusion coefficient in copper selenide

Ionic conductivity and chemical diffusion coefficient have been studied for superionic polycrystalline Cu_1.75Se copper selenide within the temperature interval 300–500 K. An increase in ionic conductivity with an grain size increase is observed. In our opinion, this fact is caused by lower activation energy for the bulk diffusion than that for the grain boundary diffusion.